Seawater intrusion and aquifer freshening near
Water Science & Technology: Water Supply Vol 7 No 2 pp 137–145 Q IWA Publishing 2007
reclaimed coastal area of Shenzhen
K.P. Chen and J.J. Jiao
Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China
(E-mail: kpchen@hkusua.hku.hk; jjiao@hku.hk)
Abstract Local groundwater in coastal aquifers in Shenzhen has experienced heavy pumping since the
1980s when it began to expand very quickly from a ﬁshing village to a modern city. Meanwhile, large-scale
land reclamation was carried out to meet the needs of various urbanization projects. In this paper we
analyzed the groundwater from a coastal aquifer system in Shenzhen and examined the evolution of
groundwater chemistry over the last 20 years. The temporal changes of ionic ratios of rCa/(rHCO3 þ rSO4)
and the relationship between sodium and chloride in the coastal area over this period indicate that the
aquifer experienced seawater intrusion in the 1980s but underwent gradual freshening in the 1990s. It is
speculated that seawater intrusion was induced by excessive groundwater pumping and that the aquifer
freshening was caused both by the recent reduction in groundwater pumping and by coastal reclamation
which moved the interface between fresh groundwater and saline groundwater seaward.
Keywords Coastal groundwater; land reclamation; seawater intrusion; Shenzhen
Introduction
The study area is located in the coastal region of southern China southwest of Shenzhen
(Figure 1). Shenzhen was selected as the ﬁrst ‘special economic zone’ in China in 1980
and since then it has evolved from a ﬁshing village to a modern city. Shenzhen lacks
surface water resource, thus intensive groundwater pumping in the coastal plain has taken
place beginning in the early 1980s when the city started to expand. In 1989 a public
water supply system was established, and now 80% of the city’s water supply is drawn
from a river catchment to the north. Large-scale pumping of groundwater was signiﬁ-
cantly reduced beginning in the early 1990s.
Extensive coastal reclamation has been carried out in the study area since 1988 to meet
the need for additional land to accommodate the startling economic development. Figure 1
reveals the changes in the coastline around Shenzhen Bay with time. From the late 1980s
to the present, the coastline in the study area has been pushed seaward by up to 1 km.
Anthropogenic activities such as groundwater pumping and land reclamation are
believed to have signiﬁcant impact on coastal groundwater ﬂow systems both physically
and chemically. Seawater intrusion triggered by excessive groundwater pumping has
been extensively studied (Jones et al., 1999; Park et al., 2005; Bennetts et al., 2006;
Petalas and Lambrakis, 2006). However, when groundwater exploitation is signiﬁcantly
reduced, the direction of coastal ﬂow in the aquifer system reverses from landward to
seaward and the aquifer will eventually resume its original character. The aquifer will be
recharged by inﬁltration through the shallow soil and through outcrops of the aquifer so
that the system will be controlled mainly by natural topography-driven ﬂow, which will
lead to gradual freshening of the coastal aquifer that once experienced seawater intrusion.
Compared to the effects of pumping, the impact of land reclamation on groundwater
systems has been much less addressed in the literature. Land reclamation is expected to
elevate the water level in the original coastal area because the ﬁll materials may have
doi: 10.2166/ws.2007.048 137
K.P. Chen and J.J. Jiao
Figure 1 Simpliﬁed geological and location map of the Shenzhen area, with coastlines in different years
some damming effect on the seaward groundwater discharge and the reclaimed land
increases the ﬂow path between the original groundwater system and the sea. After the
coastline is moved seaward, the saline–fresh groundwater interface will also move sea-
ward by almost the same distance. This suggests that the original coastal area and prob-
ably a portion of the reclaimed areas in Shenzhen, which were soaked by saline water,
will be gradually saturated by fresh groundwater as the interface moves slowly seaward.
The effects of coastal reclamation on groundwater supplies have been studied in a few
areas. Stuyfzand (1995) discussed how reclaimed lakes in a coastal plain in the Nether-
lands may impose changes in groundwater ﬂow patterns and groundwater quality. Jiao
et al. (2006) used a two-dimensional model to demonstrate that land reclamation may be
one of the factors increasing the groundwater level in a coastal area of Hong Kong, and
Jiao et al. (2001) and Guo and Jiao (2007) derived analytical solutions to calculate the
changes of groundwater level and the interface between fresh and saline groundwater in
response to land reclamation, respectively.
The objectives of the present research are to: (1) investigate the evolution of ground-
water hydrochemistry in the study area since the 1980s; (2) discuss the possible human
activities such as groundwater pumping and land reclamation which may have affected
the groundwater system; and (3) explain the plausible mechanisms responsible for the
evolution of the groundwater system. We believe that a good understanding of the causes
of groundwater hydrochemical evolution will be very important for sustainable manage-
ment of coastal aquifers in Shenzhen and that our investigation of the evolution of
groundwater chemistry may be helpful in groundwater studies in other coastal areas with
similar geology and anthropogenic disturbance.
Background of the study area
Geology and hydrogeology
The geological map of the study area shown in Figure 1 is from the Shenzhen Geological
138 Bureau (1988). The study area is dominated by granite, which is strongly weathered and
decomposed near the surface in most of the study area. Quaternary materials are well
developed along the Sand River and they change from alluvial deposits near the upper
reaches of the river to delta deposits near the river mouth. Between Nantou and Nanshan
hill there are largely lagoon and marine deposits.
The river deposits consist of ﬁne to coarse sands and gravels with a total thickness of
2 to 19 m, and these are the main aquifer materials. Aquifer tests at Baishizhou show that
the hydraulic conductivity of the river deposits ranges from 21 to 67 m/d, depending on
K.P. Chen and J.J. Jiao
the amount of clay in the deposits (Chen et al., 2004). Groundwater also exists in the
fractures along the rock head and fault zones of the granite. Figure 2 shows a simpliﬁed
geological cross section along A –A0 , which consists of ﬁll materials, sands and gravels,
marine clays and granite bedrock.
Tanglang Hill has an elevation of 430 m and is the highest feature in the study area.
Muddy beaches lie along the natural coastlines. Since fast and extensive urbanization
began in the 1980s, the natural ground surface has been modiﬁed considerably by cutting
and ﬁlling. The ground surface in the reclaimed area is about 5–7 m above the sea level.
Based on the groundwater contour map depicted by Chen et al., (2004), overall ground-
water ﬂow is from north to south.
The Sand River is a tide-inﬂuenced river and the tidal water can reach as far as
Xintang. The river used to have meanders but was straightened in 1997 and lined with
concrete, which signiﬁcantly reduced the interaction between the river water and
groundwater.
Recharge of the aquifers is mainly from local rain inﬁltration and lateral ﬂow from the
northern mountainous terrain. The aquifer is basically phreatic, but clay layers may
divide it into a few sub-aquifers. Groundwater in the fracture zones in the granite, which
can be as deep as 25 m, can be conﬁned. Groundwater discharge includes evaporation,
submarine groundwater discharge and pumping.
The climate of the area is similar to most of southern in China and is subtropical
humid with hot wet summers and mild dry winters. The annual precipitation for this area
varies from , 1,600–2,000 mm. The average annual precipitation and temperature in the
speciﬁc research area is 1,948 mm and 23.4 8C, respectively. Rainfall occurs mostly in the
period between July and September, when about 70% of the annual rainfall is received.
Figure 2 Simpliﬁed geological cross section through A–A0 139
Urbanization activities relevant to groundwater system
It is known that the groundwater in this area was exploited extensively in the 1980s, but
unfortunately detailed information on groundwater usage such as pumping rate and well
location is not available. Based on Chen et al. (2004), groundwater in the study area was
pumped by Shenzhen University, which was established in 1983, and some companies
near the Sand River. Between 1987 and 1988, the university pumped groundwater at
the rate of 1,000 ton/day and the companies at the rate of 5,000 to 10,000 ton/day
K.P. Chen and J.J. Jiao
(Chen et al., 2004). Since 1989, when a public water supply was established, pumping of
groundwater by Shenzhen University ceased and that by government-run companies was
signiﬁcantly reduced, if not entirely ended.
Land reclamation started in the late 1980s. Figure 1 shows the change of coastlines
with time, which are depicted based on satellite images and topographical maps in differ-
ent years. A narrow strip was ﬁrst reclaimed mainly along the west coastline of the bay
from 1988 to 1994. After that, areas near the mouth of the Sand River were reclaimed
between 1995 and 1999. A large part of the area to the east of the Sand River and some
areas along the western coastline of the bay were again reclaimed between 2000–2001.
The most recent reclamation was done again along the western coastline from 2002 to
2005. Inside the Shenzhen Bay, all together about 15 km2 were reclaimed between 1988
and 2005.
Data sources
In the Shenzhen area, boreholes must be drilled for site investigation before building con-
struction can take place, and groundwater samples must be collected and analysed from
the boreholes to determine the likelihood that building foundations will be corroded by
the groundwater. These boreholes usually terminate a few metres below the granite rock
head, which can be about 10 to 25 m below the ground surface. The water samples col-
lected from these boreholes typically provide chemical information for the shallow Qua-
ternary aquifer, but may also reﬂect to some degree the groundwater in the deep fracture
zones of the granite.
The chemical analyses carried out for site investigation were routine and only major
anion and cation data are available. These data were collected between 1985 and 2002 by
the Shenzhen Gongkan Geotechnical Engineering Co. Ltd. and are the main data source
of this study. These chemical data were produced by different laboratories over different
years and the reliability and quality may vary, but it is believed that an investigation of
these data over the years will provide an overall picture of the evolution of the ground-
water chemistry in the study area. Aquifer information and groundwater chemical data at
Baishizhou used by Chen et al. (2004) were also collected and reanalyzed.
Evolution of groundwater chemistry
The groundwater chemical data available for the period 1985 to 2002 were examined to
investigate the evolution of the hydrogeochemistry during this period. The number of the
water samples and the locations of the boreholes from which water samples were col-
lected varied from year to year. The data for the years 1988, 1994, 1999 and 2002 were
selected for detailed investigation and discussion. These years were selected for the
following reasons; 1988 was the year before any major land reclamation took place, 1994
and 1999 were years in which major land reclamation was undertaken and 2002 is the
last year in the database available for this study. These years were also selected because
they had the largest number of water samples. Because the purpose of this study was to
understand the temporal change of groundwater chemistry in the original coastal area,
140 only the water samples collected to the north of the original coastline were used.
Temporal change of relation between sodium and chloride
Various hydrochemical processes may take place in the freshwater – seawater contact
zone of a coastal aquifer, which alter the mixture of freshwater – seawater away from the
theoretical composition (Appelo and Postma, 2005a). These processes are controlled
largely by the soil properties of the aquifer, such as the content of clay minerals and the
proportion of oxides and hydroxides (Pulido-Leboeuf, 2004; Lambrakis, 2006).
When seawater intrudes into a coastal fresh groundwater aquifer, the following
K.P. Chen and J.J. Jiao
exchange reaction takes place:
Naþ þ 1 Ca2þ 2 X2 ! 1 Ca2þ þ Na 2 X
2 2
where X indicates the soil exchanger. In this reaction, Naþ is taken up by the exchanger,
whereas Ca2 þ is released into the water. Because the chloride remains the same, a
depletion of Naþ relatively to chloride in groundwater is therefore observed when
seawater intrudes the previously fresh aquifer. However, if seawater intrusion is stopped
for some reason and the fresh groundwater ﬂushes the aquifer, the reverse cation
exchange reaction takes place as follows, resulting in enrichment of Naþ relative to Cl2.
1
2 Ca2þ þ Na 2 X ! 1 Ca 2 X2 þ Naþ
2
Figure 3 is a plot of Cl2 and Naþ in groundwater samples in 1988, 1994, 1999,
and 2002, together with the theoretical freshwater –seawater mixing line. The inset of
Figure 3 shows the location of the water samples.
Figure 3a shows that almost all groundwater samples fall below the theoretical fresh-
water– seawater mixing line, indicating an obvious deﬁcit of sodium relative to chloride.
A depletion of sodium is believed to be the result of cation exchange in coastal aquifers
when seawater intrudes a previously freshwater aquifer. Naþ and Cl2 are dominant ions
in seawater but fresh groundwater is often dominated by Ca2 þ and HCO2 ions (Appelo
3
and Postma, 2005b). The depletion of Naþ relative to Cl2 observed in Figure 3a indicates
that in 1988 the coastal aquifers in the study area suffered from seawater intrusion.
A similar deﬁcit of sodium relative to chloride compared to the theoretical mixing line
Figure 3 Sodium vs. chloride concentrations in groundwater samples collected in the original coastal area
in 1988, 1994, 1999 and 2002. The inset shows the location of the water samples and the coastlines in
1983 and 2005 141
has been used as an indicator of seawater intrusion by many researchers (Zilberbrand
et al., 2001; Pulido-Leboeuf, 2004; Petalas and Lambrakis, 2006).
Figure 3d shows that for 2002, groundwater samples plot both above and below
the theoretical mixing line, indicating an excess or depletion of Naþ relative to chloride.
A logical explanation for the excess Na is that cation exchange took place between the
aquifer materials, which released Naþ to solution when fresh groundwater ﬂushed the
previously relatively saline aquifers and the saline front moved seaward. Appelo and
K.P. Chen and J.J. Jiao
Postma (2005a,b) noted that cation exchange acts as a temporary buffer in non-steady
state situations, which result from the shifting of the salt –fresh water interface. Similar
phenomena have been observed by Lambrakis (2006) when they recharged with fresh
water a coastal aquifer, which had previously suffered a saline intrusion. Figure 3b and c
represent the groundwater chemistry in the transition years. Overall, Figure 3 shows that
in the past 20 years most samples changed from a deﬁcit of sodium relative to chloride,
indicating seawater intrusion, to enrichment of Naþ, indicating gradual freshening.
Figure 4 shows the temporal change of the ratio rCa/(rHCO3 þ rSO4) of the water
samples collected from 1985 to 2002. The data for several typical years are discussed in
some detail. The ratio of rCa/(rHCO3 þ rSO4) of the 42 groundwater samples collected
in 1988 ranges from 0.14 to 4.40, with an average value of 1.13 (Figure 4). Detailed
investigation found that 35% of the 42 groundwater samples collected in 1988 had ratios
of rCa/(rHCO3 þ rSO4) . 1, and that most of the samples had a ratio close to 1. This
indicates that the coastal aquifer of the study area suffered from seawater intrusion
in 1988.
The rCa/(rHCO3 þ rSO4) ratios of groundwater samples collected in 1994 are much
reduced compared to 1988 and only 20% of the 28 samples have a ratio . 1, with an
average value of 0.87 (Figure 4). It can also be seen that the rCa/(rHCO3 þ rSO4) ratios
of the water samples collected in 1999 and 2002 are even lower and only a few samples
have a ratio . 1.
From Figure 4, it is easy to observe that from 1985 to 2002 the ratio of rCa/(rHCO3
þ rSO4) generally declined gradually. The decrease in the ratio to the end of the 1990s
suggests that the saline front receded seaward and consequently Ca2 þ in the groundwater
was adsorbed by the aquifer. Therefore, the high ratio of rCa/(rHCO3 þ rSO4) (with an
average greater than 1) in the groundwater samples collected in 1988 indicates that the
aquifer at that period suffered from seawater intrusion, whereas the decreasing trend of
the rCa/(rHCO3 þ rSO4) ratios indicates that the coastal aquifer experienced gradual
freshening after 1988.
Figure 4 Average values of rCa/(rHCO3 þ rSO4) of groundwater samples from Shenzhen showing a
142 change with time
Temporal change of groundwater chemistry at Baishizhou
Water samples from the observation well at Baishizhou were collected by Shenzhen
Geological Bureau about twice a year for chemical analysis. Figure 5 shows the change
of the TDS and Cl2 with time from 1984 to 2002. Both TDS and Cl increased signiﬁ-
cantly since 1984 and remained high between 1985 and 1988, indicating possible sea-
water intrusion. They dropped considerably after 1989. This is believed to be related to
the signiﬁcant reduction in pumping rate after the public water supply was introduced
K.P. Chen and J.J. Jiao
since 1989, although it is unclear if such a prompt decrease in the TDS and Cl was
entirely caused by the reduction in groundwater pumping.
Mechanisms of temporal evolution of hydrochemistry
Reduction or cease of groundwater pumping
Pumping groundwater in coastal aquifers reduces the groundwater level and induces sea-
water intrusion. Local groundwater was a major source of water for Shenzhen in the
1980s before the public water supply was developed and pumping is believed to have
caused the observed seawater intrusion. However, after groundwater pumping was
reduced or ceased in 1989, the groundwater level recovered and seawater intrusion eased.
Recharge from rainfall and lateral ﬂow ﬂushed the intruded seawater back to the sea.
Consequently the aquifer was gradually freshened.
Land reclamation
Large-scale land reclamation in the study area has moved the coastline to the sea by
about 1 km. The interface between the fresh and saline groundwater may also have
moved seaward by a similar amount. The ﬁll materials became an additional aquifer and
the original brackish coastal aquifer was gradually freshened. The rate of freshening,
however, depends on many factors such as the permeabilities of the aquifer and the ﬁll
materials, the aquifer structure and the recharges from the lateral ﬂow and rainfall. The
freshening process after reclamation is schematically represented in Figure 6. This is
believed to be the main mechanism responsible for the gradual freshening of the coastal
aquifer in the study area.
Figure 5 Changes of chloride and TDS in groundwater in the well at Baishizhou (1984 –2002) 143
K.P. Chen and J.J. Jiao
Figure 6 Conceptual model explaining aquifer freshening in coastal aquifers after land reclamation
Conclusion
Human activities such as groundwater pumping and land reclamation are very common
in extensively urbanized coastal areas. Groundwater pumping may induce seawater
intrusion. In a coastal area near the reclaimed site, under the same pumping condition,
seawater intrusion may be reduced because large-scale land reclamation may provide
some kind of defense or screen against seawater intrusion because it increases the dis-
tance between the pumping site and the coastline. If pumping ceases, the natural ﬂow
system will recover and topography-driven ﬂow with lateral ﬂow initiated in the mountai-
nous areas and rain inﬁltration will push the interface between fresh groundwater and
saline water seaward. The saline or brackish groundwater in the original coastal area and
part of the reclaimed area will be displaced by fresh groundwater and lead to aquifer
freshening.
This paper presents a case study on seawater intrusion and aquifer freshening in the
coastal area in Shenzhen by examining the evolution of the hydrogeochemistry over the
past 20 years, a period of rapid urbanization in the area. The temporal change of
the relation between sodium and chloride concentrations shows that the groundwater had
an obvious deﬁcit of sodium relative to chloride compared to the theoretical mixing line
in the 1980s but had excess or depletion of Na þ relative to chloride starting around
2000. The average ratio of rCa/(rHCO3 þ rSO4) of the groundwater samples changed
from over 1 about 20 years ago to be much less than 1 in recent years. The groundwater
chemical data at a speciﬁc borehole in Baishizhou illustrate that chloride in the ground-
water dropped from fairly high concentrations in the 1980s to be below 25 mg/l in the
1990s. All evidence demonstrates that the aquifer suffered from seawater intrusion in the
144 1980s but then experienced gradual freshening in the 1990s.
The groundwater pumping in the 1980s is believed to have caused the seawater
intrusion. The most plausible explanation for the aquifer freshening in the 1990s is a
reduction in groundwater exploitation and large-scale land reclamation which moved the sea-
water and groundwater interface seaward, an unintended positive effect of land reclamation.
It should be pointed out that our conclusion about freshening of the aquifer applies only to
the reclaimed area where data were used for this study. It by no means suggests that the entire
coastal area of Shenzhen is undergoing similar aquifer freshening. The Shenzhen Water
K.P. Chen and J.J. Jiao
Bureau is concerned that some private companies may consider the groundwater to be an inex-
pensive resource and that they are still pumping it illegally for industrial purposes. It is noted
that the TDS in the well at Baishizhou (Figure 5) and the rCa/(rHCO3 þ rSO4) (Figure 4) in
the coastal area have been increasing since 2000, and it is unclear if this suggests additional
intrusion of seawater. More evidence and studies are required before any conclusive
conﬁrmation can be made.
Acknowledgements
The study was partially supported by the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region (HKU 7105/02P) and the ‘Two Bases’ Project of National
Natural Science Foundation of China. Data were generously provided by the Shenzhen
Gongkan Geotechnical Engineering Co. Ltd and the research team headed by Professor
Chen Zhihua in China University of Geosciences in Wuhan.
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